WASHINGTON - Home foreclosures will keep rising next year no matter who is elected president in November.
Even the optimism that surrounds a new president taking office cannot resurrect home values overnight, and presidents have no direct ability to reduce rising mortgage rates. Nevertheless, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain both promise help for homeowners […]

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Patience is a virtue, and a necessity, when buying a foreclosed home straight from a lender.
With prices down, real estate agents across the country report that more investors are interested in acquiring properties this way. But it isn’t simple or quick. There is a lot to watch out for, such as many layers of bureaucracy […]

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Just how bad is it going to get for the UK housing market? The news flow over the last week has been one of unrelenting gloom, culminating in the data yesterday that showed the number of new loans granted for house purchases in February slumped to a 13-year low of just 73,000. A more normal […]

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CALABASAS, Calif. (AP) — Mortgage lender and servicer Countrywide Financial Corp. said Thursday delinquency rates declined slightly in February compared with the previous month, while foreclosure rates continued to rise.
Delinquencies rates on loans serviced by Countrywide fell to 7.44% in February, from 7.47% in January. Delinquencies rates are still much higher than the year ago-period, […]

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AP - Battling a dangerous wave of home foreclosures, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke called Tuesday for additional relief and urged lenders to help distressed owners by lowering the amount of their loans.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The impact of the housing crisis is landing hardest among the nation’s poorest home owners, a study by a public interest advocacy group has found.
Initial estimates by the government and private researchers showed that subprime-related loans were clustered heavily in a handful of states.
The new report from the Bread for the […]

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WASHINGTON — A key Democratic congressman is planning a push to expand the federal government’s role in stabilizing the housing market, setting up a showdown with a White House that has largely looked for private-sector solutions.
Barney Frank, D-Mass., the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, is floating an initiative that aims to refinance as […]

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NEW YORK (AP) — Thornburg Mortgage Inc., a mortgage lender, said Thursday it has been the subject of margin calls on a portfolio of securities backed by alt-A mortgages.
Alt-A mortgages are loans given to customers with minor credit problems or who cannot document their income or assets to get a traditional, prime mortgage. Margin calls […]

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